Cloud computing: balancing individual, business and law-enforcement interests

Grazed from The Guardian. Author: Jim Reavis.

We all know about the massive presence of computing and the internet in our everyday lives. It therefore boggles the mind to consider how rudimentary our use of technology will seem in just a few short years as many projections point to 100bn internet-connected devices in 2020, compared with just 8bn today. This post-PC world of pervasive computing, from appliances to automobiles to the electrical grid will centre around cloud computing.

The massive cloud data centres of today will grow at a phenomenal pace to manage these devices and store their data – a utility on a global scale. Like a utility, the cloud is always on and available. Individual countries and federations of nations, such as the European Union, are scrambling to understand how to regulate the cloud and promote its growth, while protecting the rights of its citizens…

While much of this is well meaning and quite good, the great challenge is in understanding the international interdependencies that have emerged within this global compute utility, and defining strategies and policies that balance the interests of individuals, business and law enforcement. Compounding this challenge is a great acceleration in innovation, which in effect is asking us to govern an entity that is highly dynamic…

Read more from the source @ http://www.guardian.co.uk/media-network/media-network-blog/2013/apr/22/regulation-cloud-computing-businesses-law